What to do if you get lost?

[lilpooter]

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick question; I apologize if this has been discussed before.

My DS(39) & her family just returned from a week at WDW. After sharing her magical vacation with me, she shared one very unmagical day at Epcot. Apparently she got separated from her family and was missing them for over 4 hours. To make a long story short she ended up missing a meal at her favorite restaurant, La Cellier's. HOWEVER, her family did not miss this meal. I guess my DS went back to the restaurant several times knowing their ressie was up. She was told each time that her party had not arrived although the three of them were inside enjoying every bit of their meal. I guess she wandered around the park for hours looking for them; even speaking to a security guard about what to do. Eventually she ended up going back to the resort, where they were all waiting for her and it ended happily ever after.

Since they forgot their cell phone chargers (top on my packing list now) they were unable to communicate via cell phone.

Any suggestions on what to do if a party gets split up? Could/would one go to guest relations to leave messages?

I would love to hear everyone's "game plan" for what to do in these situations.

Thanks for your input!

Faith

 

[mking624]

DH and I got separated one time at MK. We were getting on the train, but I had dropped something and DH didn't notice that I had stopped to pick whatever it was up...and he sat down. Well you know how people flood to sit down? That's exactly what happened and I wound up having to sit several rows in front of him. And it's not like he could have gotten up and moved by me...the train was packed. Anyway, we rode for awhile and I happened to notice that Robin Hood was out signing autographs....he was near the walkway between Toon Town and Tomorrowland...so I got off at the Toon Town stop and assumed DH would get off too. He was looking off into space and hadn't noticed I got off. I called his name out, but by that time, the train was pulling back out. So I just sat by the train stop until he came walking back over from Main Street. We learned then and there to have a plan in place.

We designate a spot at each park to meet at in case of a separation. Basically if after about 20 minutes of looking we can't find each other, we head off to the designated spot. Makes everything rather short lived in terms of searching.

Glad the end of the day for your DS ended well....but I would be really upset if my family hadn't seen me for that long and they went ahead and enjoyed ADRs without me.

 

[BlindTyldak]

That the restaurant didn't say that the party was there is VERY odd, but my family has very specific meeting points . . . in Future World its the handicapped entrance to SE, in WS it's the pay phones in Morocco. Not benches nearby, if we get split up we are standing AT that door or leaning right on a pay phone.

 

[krismas29]

We have been going with my niece since she was 4 yrs old. Every trip we remind her of the "major" site at each park and tell her that if she ever gets lost she should not spend more than 5 mins looking for us but should head directly for that site (Cindy's Castle at MK, Big Ball at Epcot, Sorcerer's Hat at MGM and Tree of Life at AK).

It worked like a charm one trip at Epcot. She lost us in Future World, we looked around for about 10 mins and then headed to our site. We found her a few mins later sitting on the side of the fountain wondering what took us so long!

 

[Redwitch]

At the begining of each day, pick a spot to meet in the event you get seperated. Be very specific. (Do not pick under the hat at MGM or in front of the the Castle at MK - they are too general and cover too much area!)

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

The major landmarks are a great idea for small children (or telling them to look for a CM, and how to tell who is one.) For older children and adults, though, it is usually easier to pick someplace that is *not* one of the major landmarks. Why? First, those places are usually full of people, but they're also pretty big places. If you just say "we'll meet at the castle", that can mean in front of the castle, behind the castle, off to the side, inside, etc. You can easily miss each other even though you're at the same place!

I'm surprised the CM at Le Cellier said the party wasn't there! I wonder if they would have let you peek inside the restaurant to be sure you didn't see them anywhere?

I don't know how people ever did the parks before cell phones. If you've read Delswife's reports, you know that all it takes to lose your family is to move "three people to the left".

 

[krismas29]

The major landmarks are a great idea for small children (or telling them to look for a CM, and how to tell who is one.) For older children and adults, though, it is usually easier to pick someplace that is *not* one of the major landmarks. Why? First, those places are usually full of people, but they're also pretty big places. If you just say "we'll meet at the castle", that can mean in front of the castle, behind the castle, off to the side, inside, etc. You can easily miss each other even though you're at the same place!

I'm surprised the CM at Le Cellier said the party wasn't there! I wonder if they would have let you peek inside the restaurant to be sure you didn't see them anywhere?

I don't know how people ever did the parks before cell phones. If you've read Delswife's reports, you know that all it takes to lose your family is to move "three people to the left".

I do agree with you about the major landmarks being a large area in which to meet, but we started doing this when my niece was very small and have not wanted to change and confuse her. We just tell her to pick a spot at the landmark and stay put ... we will find her. In my opinion its easier for 3 or 4 adults to make a circut of the major sites than to hope a 9 yr old remembers that the new meeting place is not the old one.

Anyway, I guess the simple answer to the original poster is to make sure to pick a place!

 

[Evil Genius]

We pick someplace out of the way in each park, just in case. We haven't had to use it yet(knock on wood)

 

[disneyfan719]

Hi All!

When my family started going to the World, my youngest brother was only 7 months old. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time at the Baby Care Centers in the parks. Therefore, we always made this our family meeting spot since it was never crowded and we never had to remember which place to meet in a specific park, no matter what the park, the baby care center was always the meeting spot.

We just got back and my youngest brother is now 17. We still use the Baby Care Centers as a meeting spot if someone gets lost.

 

[AJKMOM]

We also pick a specific meeting space, often as we pass it. "Here, kids, is where we meet if we get lost". The last time we went, we all had cell phones, and I ordered everyone to turn them on!

 

[lilpooter]

Thanks everyone for the great tips. I am definitely going to take your advice and be sure to pick out specific meeting spaces.

DS said that she went back to Le Cellier several times and when they would tell her that her party wasn't there she asked if she could go in and look. For some reason they would not let her go in. I guess she really didn't think her family would be in there eating without her; it took a little while for the pixie dust to reappear that night.

One good thing is my DH knows what not to do if we get separated right before our ADR (eat without me!).

I will check out Delswife's report and be sure that cell phones & chargers are packed!

Thanks everyone, I love the DISBoards!
Faith